Archinect - News

42-story tower catches fire in Hong Kong

2023-03-04T08:00:00-05:00

A 42-story building under construction in Hong Kong caught fire late Thursday, showering a bustling shopping district with sparks and debris and lighting up the nighttime sky. Onlookers flocked to the waterfront neighborhood of Tsim Sha Tsui to take in the spectacle, as the flames made their way through the skyscraper and the scaffolding around it and explosions pierced the air.

The sight lasted for a period of 9 hours before emergency workers finally extinguished the blaze. Only two injuries were reported by Friday evening.

Construction begins for the first high-rise in LA's Arts District

2022-05-09T16:56:00-04:00

On the east side of Downtown Los Angeles, a pair of orange tower cranes have arrived at 520 Mateo Street, future site of a mixed-use development from Carmel Partners which is set to become the first high-rise building in the Arts District. The project, which only recent began showing signs of activity after two years of dormancy, will be named "Alloy," according to social media posts by the developer.

The one million square-foot development, designed by Works Progress Architecture and Solomon Cordwell Buenz, is composed of a 35-story residential tower with 475 apartments, a six-story, 105,000-square-foot office building, 20,000-square-feet of retail space, and a 748-car garage. Plans also call for repurposing a former section of rail into a public paseo between Sante Fe and Mateo Streets that will host retail, outdoor seating, and a performance stage.

Previously: How L.A. corruption kills affordable housing

As reported by Urbanize Los Angeles, Alloy's progress was jeopardized in 2020 following the disclosure that it was connected to a corruption scandal, in which former Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar accepted bribes from the project's developers Carmel Partners. The company has since paid a $1.2 million fine to resolve its involvement.

Work begins for Downtown Los Angeles' first new high-rise since the start of the pandemic

2022-04-15T13:51:00-04:00

Onni Group, the Canadian real estate development firm which has emerged as one of the most prolific builders in Downtown Los Angeles, has broken ground on the neighborhood's first high-rise building since the onset of the global pandemic.

As reported by Urbanize Los Angeles, the Vancouver-based developer recently closed off and razed a parking lot at the southeast corner of Olympic Boulevard and Hill Street. Here, the City of Los Angeles has approved the construction of a new 60-story tower that will include 700 apartments. The building would rise from a podium structure containing parking for more than 1,000 vehicles and 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Designed by IBI Group, the high-rise will stand at 760 feet making it the city’s 4th tallest building if completed today and its tallest residential tower.

An environmental study estimates that construction of the tower would be completed over a period of approximately 30 months.

Frank Gehry's 8 Spruce Street goes up for sale

2021-11-04T18:11:00-04:00

Lower Manhattan’s 8 Spruce Street, the Frank Gehry-designed rental tower instantly recognizable for its one-of-a-kind undulating surface, is for sale with an equally eye-catching price tag.

Owner Brookfield Property Partners and Nuveen, the real estate arm of insurance company TIAA, have put the 76-story building on the market for $850 million. At the time of its opening, the approximately 900-unit tower was the tallest residential building in North America.

The building struggled during the pandemic as residents fled the city, leaving a quarter of its units vacant, according to The Real Deal. However, the building’s occupancy has since reportedly recovered to 94 percent.

SHoP Architects to create world's tallest "hybrid timber" tower in Sydney

2020-06-25T17:09:00-04:00

New York City-based SHoP Architects and Australian technology company Atlassian have unveiled plans for a 40-story tall timber and steel tower slated for a new business-technology district in Sydney, Australia.

The 280-foot tower will be wrapped with a diagrid steel tube and staggered glass envelope that is set to include solar panels embedded within some of the frames. The designers of the project, CNBC reports, aim to run the building entirely on renewable energy and are projecting energy use levels at 50% below conventional new-build projects.

This loose-fitting envelope will encase a rhythmic arrangement of staggered floor plates and internal gardens that run up the height of the tower. The building's stepped top will also featured staggered terraces populated by trees.

BVN Architecture is serving as Architect of Record on the project, which is scheduled to break ground next year with estimated completion in 2025.

Over 1,100 foot-high observation deck to open in Hudson Yards, will be highest in Western Hemisphere

2020-03-10T11:46:00-04:00

The KPF-designed 30 Hudson Yards has long been deemed the tallest building of the Hudson Yards development, and due to open this month is the anticipated observation deck Edge, which, floating right at 1,131 feet high, will be the tallest observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. Located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards, it will take visitors a 52 second elevator ride to reach the platform's 7,500 square foot viewing area.

Nine-foot tall glass walls of angled glass allow viewers to "lean out over Manhattan." The sky deck also includes a glass floor to further exaggerate the intensity of the observation experience as the deck extends almost 80 feet from the face of the tower.

Empire State Building's new observatory culminates $165 million renovation

2019-12-05T11:11:00-05:00

Thinc Design and Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) have announced the completion of the reimagined Empire State Building Observatory, marking the culmination of the final phase of a four-year $165 million-dollar transformation of the iconic tower. Acting as Experience Designer on the project, Thinc Design led and collaborated with a cross-disciplinary team of individuals specializing architecture, travel, technology, and entertainment to curate, design, and realize the comprehensive rework.

The 80th-floor, which is now the first viewing level of the observatory provides a wide range of interactive exhibits along with panoramic views of the New York City skyline, dynamic "smart" lighting that modifies its levels based on exterior lighting conditions, virtual reality binoculars that introduce users to augmented views of New York landmarks, and much more.

"The Empire State Building brings people together from all around the world. We’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to create an un...

Check out this time-lapse of RAMSA's 70-story Chicago tower

2019-09-06T19:15:00-04:00

A Robert A. M. Stern Architects-designed high-rise has recently reached completion. And with a timeline of almost three years, the project's realization has made it Chicago's tallest "strictly residential" skyscraper, with the program lacking hotel, office, and retail program types.

The structure tops out right at 836 feet. EarthCam has recently uploaded a video of the tower's erection:

Seattle architecture professionals identify 5 residential trends

2018-09-13T15:11:00-04:00

As with every single other thing about Seattle, there’ve been some developments in residential design since 2008 [...] Here are five opportunities, in the form of developments in residential architecture over the past 10 years as identified — and expressed — by some plugged-in visionaries.

The Seattle Times tracked 5 developments in residential design addressing housing issues in the city. For each trend they spoke with an architecture professional working in the field. Below are Seattle's identified trends and some of the visionaries addressing them:

1. Multifamily Housing Moves Thoughtfully into Single-Family Neighborhood
-Mary Johnston of Johnston Architects
The Potential of the Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit
-Robert Hutchinson of Robert Hutchison Architecture
Modern Modular Housing
-Rick Mohler of Mohler + Ghillino Architects
High-End Design in High-Rise Apartments
-Olson Kundig Architects and Ankrom Moisan Architecture
Greener is the New Green
-Leah Missik of Built Green

A new crack appears in San Francisco's sinking Millennium Tower

2018-09-10T16:32:00-04:00

A large crack formed in a window at the sinking and tilting Millennium Tower over the Labor Day weekend, prompting officials there to block off part of the sidewalk on Mission Street as a precaution, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned. City inspectors issued a notice of violation on Tuesday, giving the Millennium management 72 hours to report back on the extent of the problem and the soundness of the building’s façade in light of the failure.

The latest safety concern over San Francisco's sinking Millennium Tower occurred Labor Day weekend when residents heard creaking sounds followed by a loud popping noise in the building. Soon after the incident a resident living on the 36th floor found a crack in his window. The high rise is currently tilting about 18 inches when measured at the top.

World's tallest Passive House completed by VArquitectos in Spain

2018-09-05T15:53:00-04:00

The recently completed Bolueta high rise by VArquitectos is now the tallest reaching Passive House building in the world. Located in Bilbao, Spain, the project includes an adjacent 9-story building with 63 apartments dedicated for social housing.

Bolueta by VArquitectos, located in Bilbao, Spain. Image: VArquitectos.

All apartments in the taller, 32-story building have been sold with residents now moving in. Achieving the energy efficient Passive House Standard means Bolueta will consume about 90% less heating energy than an existing building, and about 75% less energy than an average new construction.

Bolueta by VArquitectos, located in Bilbao, Spain. Image: VArquitectos.

Like all Passive House buildings, the design features a high amount of thermal insulation, triple-glazed windows, and an airtight building envelope to take the place of a classic heating system.

Residents sue to stop Sutton 58 high rise construction in NYC

2018-08-29T15:05:00-04:00

Sutton Place residents filed a lawsuit Sunday in a last-ditch attempt to stop a luxury condo tower from rising on East 58th Street. The plaintiffs, a group called the East River Fifties Alliance, are residents from the surrounding neighborhood, including condo owners whose views would be blocked by a roughly 800-foot tower under construction at 430 E. 58th St.

Construction on NYC's Sutton 58 condo project was previously halted after Sutton Place residents secured a rezoning proposal. The rezoning mandated squatter buildings making Sutton 58 noncompliant. Since then a city zoning board granted the project a reprieve, resulting in the resident's lawsuit to stop construction.

Studio Gang reveals new twisting tower design for San Francisco

2018-08-25T11:03:00-04:00

Studio Gang reveals a new, 400-foot tall residential tower called "MIRA" for San Francisco's Transbay neighborhood. The building features classic bay windows staggered in a twisting design around the structure.

"MIRA" high rise rendering by Studio Gang, located in San Francisco. Image: Studio Gang.

The design provides each unit with ample lighting and views of the bay, while also creating a high-performance facade reducing energy consumption.

"MIRA" high rise rendering by Studio Gang, located in San Francisco. Image: Binyan.

40% of the building's units have been designated to be priced below market rate.

"MIRA" high rise rendering by Studio Gang, located in San Francisco. Image: Studio Gang.

The high rise also includes sustainable features such as a VRF cooling system, a graywater harvesting system, green roofs, and high-efficiency fixtures and is targeted for LEED Gold certification.

Hong Kong's public housing receives widespread photographic attention

2018-08-13T15:52:00-04:00

Across Hong Kong, where almost half the population lives in government-provided housing, public housing complexes have become wildly popular Instagram destinations. Locals and tourists have flocked to estates around the city, craning their necks to get that perfect social media shot and irritating residents in the process. The estates have drawn professional interest as well, featuring prominently in marketing campaigns and even a music video by the Korean boy band Seventeen.

Hong Kong's public housing, largely built in the 1960's and 70's, has attracted widespread public attention for its aesthetic appeal. These modernist style high-rises photograph beautifully with colorful displays of clean lined symmetry. While these buildings are visually engaging, they also play an important role providing affordable housing to millions in one of the most expensive cities to live. Hong Kong's immense public sector housing program creates space for nearly half of the city's residents.

Penda's Tel Aviv Arcades offer arches and terraces rather than the generic glass tower

2018-06-25T15:39:00-04:00

The Austrian branch of Penda reveals a residential high-rise for Tel Aviv defined by arches and cascading terraces. The design responds to the broad display of the city’s Bauhaus era and responds to the city's climate challenges rather than opting for another glass tower.

Tel Aviv Arcades rendering by Penda Austria. Image: Penda Austria.

Defined by the arch, the structure's design allows for views while still minimizing openings to direct sunlight in order to cooperate with the mediterranean climate. Varying terraces are used as a shading devices while also functioning as a vertical neighborhood for residents.

Tel Aviv Arcades rendering by Penda Austria. Image: Penda Austria.

The condominium tower measures approximately 380 feet in height featuring about 58 square feet of residential areas on 18 floors. The building will ...

The high rise apartment terrace is evolving

2018-05-01T17:54:00-04:00

If yesterday’s terraces were just little rectangular slabs tacked onto the sides of buildings — on which a tenant might cower, or perhaps more likely, rarely step foot — today’s are becoming increasingly generous and welcoming. Some developers and architects are ushering in a new age of terrace design in a bid to provide more interesting outdoor space, capitalize on views and add greenery. In the process, they’re adding drama to the buildings themselves.

Via 57 West terraces (pictured above) are inset to the building by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). The firm names them “cockpits” due to their shelter against wind and noise.

305 East 44th Street terrace floor rendering. Image: Moso Studio.

Terraces of 1,400-square-feet will be located between apartment floors at 305 East 44th Street. The design will also feature spiral staircase leading from an apartment to its outdoor space.

Rendering of 48-unit residence development by FXCollaborative. Image: Williams New York.

Adding value to the traditional function of a terrace, FXCollaborative took inspiration for this design from rippling water on the East River nearby.

Are San Francisco skyscrapers prepared for the next big earthquake?

2018-04-23T19:09:00-04:00

San Francisco lives with the certainty that the Big One will come. But the city is also putting up taller and taller buildings clustered closer and closer together because of the state’s severe housing shortage. Now those competing pressures have prompted an anxious rethinking of building regulations. Experts are sending this message: The building code does not protect cities from earthquakes nearly as much as you might think.

Taking a hard look at San Francisco's building codes, this NY Times piece goes in depth on what it means for city high rises if the next big earthquake hit. From the 1906 earthquake and fire to current seismic safety, concerns revolve around the number of skyscrapers built on liquefaction zones and buildings left damaged beyond repair.

With cases such as the sinking Millennium Tower and many more high rises planned for the city, San Francisco's seismic risk and building codes are currently being reassessed. The Tall Building Study is the first detailed database of more than 160 high rises, classifying structures by building type.

Studio Gang's first LA project will be a wavy high-rise in Chinatown

2018-04-19T14:39:00-04:00

Chicago-based architecture firm Studio Gang has signed on to design an eye-catching 26-story apartment and hotel tower in Chinatown. The widely-respected firm has designed numerous projects in Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, including the expansion of the American Museum of Natural History. This would be its first in Los Angeles.

Studio Gang has released plans to design a high-rise in Los Angeles' Chinatown, a space near the rapidly evolving Arts District downtown. The developer Compagnie de Phalsbourg, a French real estate investment company, brought on the firm to design the mixed-use building.

The new project will house 300 apartments, 149 hotel rooms, as well as shops and open public spaces. The site is planned for 643 North Spring Street with the building rising 26 stories, yet only measuring 55 feet wide. This narrow design allows for each unit to receive air and sunlight, as well as preventing the building from feeling like a wall.

Fifteen Hudson Yards designed by DS+R and Rockwell Group tops out with initial opening next spring

2018-02-27T16:21:00-05:00

Fifteen Hudson Yards, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group, has now topped out and stands over 900 feet tall. This is the first tower within the 28-acre NYC site with for-sale residencies. Sales for the 285 condominiums have now surpassed 50%, with the remaining spaces priced from $3.9 million for a two-bedroom to $32 million for duplex penthouse.

Fifteen Hudson Yards topping out. Image: Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group.

Hudson Yards is a new neighborhood on Manhattan's West Side, which will include more than 100 shops and restaurants, approximately 4,000 residences, 14-acres of public open space, and a new 750-seat public school.

Construction progress at Hudson Yards, NYC. Image: Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group.

Developers Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group plan to open the entire first phase next March, which includes the Public Square and Gardens, its centerpiece the Vessel, and The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards.

W...

Framework Awarded $6M from City of Portland “Fast Starts” Program to Support Affordable Housing

2017-11-12T09:00:00-05:00

"By investing in Framework, our city will now be home to the first skyscraper made from wood in the United States. This project not only reflects Oregon’s leadership in the newly emerging wood products industry of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), it also demonstrates our city’s commitment to finding innovative ways to quickly deliver affordable units during our housing crisis,” said Portland Mayor, Ted Wheeler.

LEVER Architecture's project, Framework, has been awarded 6M from the city of Portland as a recipient of the City's "Fast Starts" Affordable Housing Program. The program aims at providing financial and city level assistance in the development and deployment of affordable housing projects that aim to deliver on both the means and methods of relieving the city's housing crisis.

Chicago's apartment high rises are multiplying for better or worse

2017-09-12T14:36:00-04:00

A surge of tall buildings, the vast majority of them housing rental apartments, is creating a densely populated, urban core [...] the Super Loop is patently un-super in at least one respect: It lacks a new version of the technological and aesthetic innovations that made Chicago's reputation as the cradle of modern architecture. As Mayor Rahm Emanuel prepares to host the second edition of a global architecture biennial [...], most of the new high-rises are based on tired commercial formulas.

Chicago's Super Loop is gentrifying and becoming denser as apartment buildings are multiplying and younger generations are moving in. But, most of the new apartments in these high rises are quickly built concrete boxes with glass balconies. The ordinary character of new construction in Chicago's Super Loop proves that it takes more than a strengthening economy to create interesting architecture.

Needle exchange: a look at Herzog & de Meuron's transformative "needle" tower development in DTLA's arts district

2016-09-29T19:27:00-04:00

The name of Herzog and de Meuron's proposed new development for downtown Los Angeles' arts district, 6 AM, seems like an hour/mindset that most of its current residents experience only because they stayed up much too late. But no one can stop the dawn of high-concept gentrification from breaking all over the district of former abandoned warehouses, especially when that concept promises to embody the so-called "DNA"of Los Angeles.

According to an article by Frances Anderton, de Meuron purposefully nixed medium height buildings from 6 AM's design in favor of nose-bleed high rises and squat, table-like mixed-use structures, as this was reflective of how he views Los Angeles:

“The high rise for us is important to make a difference between the low and the high because I think this is a part of specificity of Los Angeles. It’s either flat or it’s high. You don’t have in between bulky buildings. So (we’d) rather do extremely low and then you go higher. (The towers are) needle like — it shows...

"Great brutalist buildings, it turns out, have soul"

2016-09-29T13:27:00-04:00

In this thoughtful ode to the unexpected charms of brutalism, Felix Salmon explores why the formerly nightmarish architectural style is experiencing a renaissance, or at least a renewed appreciation. Salmon's observation that ubiquitous, unimaginative glass towers have replaced brutalism as the new hated icon of class strife is ace:

"The international style evolved, and not well. What used to be aspirational started becoming an in-your-face statement of conspicuous consumption. The gauche gaudiness of was embraced not only where you might expect it (the Wynn towers of Las Vegas, say), but also in places with real history, such as New York City. Go to Columbus Circle today, for instance, and you’ll see Christian de Portzamparc’s billionaire condos at One57 face off against 'a 1950s international style glass skyscraper in a 1980s gold lame party dress,' as Muschamp described the Trump International Hotel. Such erections generate almost as much hatred today as the worst mistakes of brut...

BFI Giveaway - Win two tickets to "Transport as Architecture: Ballard to Banham"

2016-06-22T04:13:00-04:00

Reflecting on TV's role in British architecture the BFI is running 'Architecture on TV'. "TV has not only provided a platform for these commentators but played a pivotal role in broadening architecture’s audiences and engaging the public in debate. "

We are giving away two tickets to the final event "Transport as Architecture: Ballard to Banham"

The season rounds off with a unique J.G. Ballard double bill which sees the author deconstruct the beauty and menace of motorised society in Transport as Architecture: Ballard to Banham; this event will be introduced by journalist Paul Morely who appears alongside Ballard in The Thing is... Motorways (C4, 1990). In addition to Ballard’s thoughts on the utopian sentiments behind motorways and service stations, Reyner Banham pays tribute to LA and its freeways in Reyner Benham Loves LA (BBC, 1972).

To enter simply fill out this survey by the deadline Monday 27th June 12pm. Best of Luck!

800 feet high and rising

2016-06-08T13:14:00-04:00

By living above 800 feet, Estis and Enkin are two members of an unexpectedly exclusive group in Manhattan. In my estimation, no more than 40 people currently live above that line, scattered among just three buildings... As my elevator descended and my ears popped, it occurred to me that I would almost certainly never take in such a view again. And in fact, maybe nobody will, if these apartments wind up becoming empty investments.

In this elegantly observed and exquisitely written piece, Jon Ronson not only takes in the view of Manhattan at 800+ feet with visits to Trump World Tower, One57, and 8 Spruce Street but looks toward the future of a nation divided by an increasingly intractable wealth gap.

Real estate of the priciest kind:

Following warehouse explosion, three new high-rises in Tianjin planned for demolition amid anti-corruption campaign

2015-12-16T18:26:00-05:00

China is reportedly planning to demolish three new high-rise [residential] buildings [in Tianjin, which] are up to 30 floors taller than originally planned...It’s the latest blow to the [city], which saw a devastating explosion at a warehouse in its port in August...state media pointed out that...the scale of illegal construction meant the building was unsafe, [deeming] the 'completely corrupt project' [as] unusable, and to be demolished was 'its destiny.'

Another case of "poor door" for proposed Vancouver high-rise

2015-05-08T17:39:00-04:00

A new building in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood is getting some attention because of its segregated entrances for condo residents and those living in social housing units. The West End Neighbours community group says the market-priced condo units and social housing units for the 19-storey high-rise for 1171 Jervis Street will also be branded differently at the entrances and have separate amenities. The development permit was approved Monday by city staff.